Jelena Jankovic, shown at last year's U.S. Open, was defeated in straight sets Thursday at the Austrlaian Open. At No. 7, she's the highest seeded player to have lost through first two rounds of the tournament. UPI/John Angelillo |
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MELBOURNE, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Peng Shuai defeated former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in straight sets Thursday in second-round play of the Australian Open.
Peng handed Jankovic, seeded seventh in Melbourne, her sixth loss in seven matches in a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory. Jankovic was No. 1 for 18 weeks, falling from the spot after the 2009 Australian Open. Since last year's tournament at Wimbledon, Jankovic is 7-13. She is the highest seed to have lost through two rounds of the Australian Open.
Peng's game Thursday was more solid than Jankovic, posting 28 winners against 20 unforced errors. Jankovic matched the total of winners but had 39 unforced errors.
Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva needed to rally for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Bojana Jovanovski. Zvonareva had 23 unforced errors, nearly half of which were in the first set.
No. 3-seeded Kim Clijsters sailed past Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3. She grabbed control by winning the first set in 22 minutes, taking 68 percent of the points in the set. Fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur dropped serve just once in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Vera Dushevina.
No. 10-seeded Shahar Peer defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-2 while 12th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska topped Petra Martic 6-3, 6-4 and No. 13 Nadia Petrova took out Alicia Molik 6-4, 6-1. Also, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 16th, advanced over Kristina Barrois 6-2, 6-2.
Three other seeded players joined Jankovic as straight-set upset victims Thursday. Iveta Benesova beat No. 18 Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-1; Simona Halep got past No. 24 Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); and Alize Cornet stopped No. 26 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 7-5, 6-1.
Other seeded players who advanced to the third round were No. 22 Flavia Pennetta, 25th-seeded Petra Kvitova and No. 31 Lucie Safarova. Ekaterina Makarova and Ayumi Morita, both unseeded, also won Thursday.
